- published: 11 Jan 2016
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Contralto is the deepest female classical singing voice, with the lowest tessitura, falling between tenor and mezzo-soprano. It typically ranges between the F below middle C (F3 in scientific pitch notation) to the second G above middle C (G5), although at the extremes some voices can reach the E below middle C (E3) or the second B♭ above middle C (B♭5).
"Contralto" is meaningful only in reference to classical and operatic singing, as other genres lack a system of vocal categorization comparable to that generally accepted in the classical context. Even within current operatic practice, contraltos are often classed as mezzo-sopranos, because singers in each range can cover for those in the other. When appearing separately, the term "contralto" applies only to female singers; men whose voices fall in the same range or higher are known as "countertenors." The Italian terms "contralto" and "alto" are not synonymous, the latter technically denoting a specific vocal range in choral singing without regard to factors like tessitura, vocal timbre, vocal facility, and vocal weight.
Eula Beal (January 25, 1919 – July 29, 2008) was an American contralto. During her relatively short touring career, she performed with distinguished collaborators not only in concert on the US West Coast but also in Concert Magic, a 1947 film billed as "the first motion picture concert."
Beal was born in Riverside, California. Touring the United States as a concert contralto in the 1940s, she appeared with orchestras including the Phoenix Symphony and the Los Angeles Philharmonic. With the latter ensemble, she performed in two works by Gustav Mahler: his Eighth Symphony, under Eugene Ormandy at the Hollywood Bowl, and Kindertotenlieder. Beal's operatic appearances included impersonations of Erda in Wagner's Siegfried and the innkeeper in Boris Godunov with the San Francisco Opera during the 1948 season. She also sang at Radio City Music Hall and the Tanglewood Festival with the Boston Pops.
Beal's present fame rests on her participation in Concert Magic, an unscripted film presenting, as the title would suggest, a classical concert. Beal was the sole vocalist; instrumentalists included pianists Adolph Baller, Jakob Gimpel, and Marguerite Campbell; violinist Yehudi Menuhin; and an orchestra billed as "Symphony Orchestra of Hollywood" under the baton of Antal Dorati. Interspersed with purely instrumental selections, Beal performed the Bach-Gounod "Ave Maria"; Franz Schubert's "Erlkönig" and "Ave Maria"; Tchaikovsky's "None but the lonely heart"; and "Lord, Have Mercy on Me" from the St. Matthew Passion of Johann Sebastian Bach.
Actors: Giorgio Ferrero (writer), Giorgio Ferrero (director), Giorgio Ferrero (composer), Giorgio Ferrero (producer), Giorgio Ferrero (actor), Rodolfo Mongitore (composer), Rodolfo Mongitore (writer), Federico Biasin (director), Rodolfo Mongitore (actor), Federico Biasin (producer), Federico Biasin (writer), Federico Biasin (editor), Tommaso Bertani (writer), Tommaso Bertani (producer), Benedetta Ravicchio (actor),
Plot: The reverberation chamber, this tremendous, unfamiliar space, moves those who walk over its threshold into an overflow of mystical awe.Yet it is but a measuring tool for those who explore the boundaries of the physics of sound. Unbeknownst to us, the reverberation chamber is an obligatory rite of passage for most of the objects we use in our daily lives. The film is based on the interaction between the almost-holy, aesthetic elevation of a once-off musical performance that can only be played within the chamber, and the sheer mathematical aloofness of its 'priest'.
Genres: Documentary, Music, Short,Actors: Francisco Araiza (actor), James Galway (actor), Elizabeth Norberg-Schulz (actress), Michala Petri (actress), Nathalie Stutzmann (actress), Ruth Käch (director), Hanne Petri (actress), Enoch zu Guttenberg (actor), Dietrich Lehmstedt (director), Maria Graf (actress), Hubert Huber (actor),
Genres: Documentary, Music,Actors: Steve Eveleigh (editor), Colin Wilson (producer), Rodney Greenberg (director), Lucia Popp (actress), Yehuda Fickler (producer), Mischa Maisky (actor), Eva Randová (actress), Josef Protschka (actor), Jirí Belohlávek (actor), Peter Mikulas (actor), Marie-Luise Maintz (miscellaneous crew), Ivan Zenatý (actor), Igor Ardasev (actor), Libor Pesek (actor), Petr Altrichter (actor),
Plot: A series of six concerts by the quintessential Czech composer Antonin Dvorák. The Prague Symphony Orchestra and Chorus of The Prague Philharmonic Choir are led by three international Czech conductors and a cast of guest solists. Concert Five features Dvorák's Cello Concerto Op.104, one of his finest works and the perennial favorite Synphony No.9 Op.95 "From The New World".
Genres: Drama, Music, Romance,Actors: Agatha Christie (writer), Roy Boulting (director), Richard Pearson (actor), Joan Hickson (actress), Victor Maddern (actor), Gerald Sim (actor), John Arnatt (actor), Michael Culver (actor), Gordon Rollings (actor), Patsy Smart (actress), Hilary Mason (actress), Andrew Bicknell (actor), Graham Walker (editor), George Gallaccio (miscellaneous crew), Ken Howard (composer),
Plot: Her old friend Maude Calthrop, wife of the village vicar, summons Miss Marple when several of the local residents receive a poison pen letter. All of the recipients thus far are men and all are accused of some act of moral turpitude. When the local solicitor's wife, Angela Symington, is found dead with a poison pen letter at her side, the coroner rules that she took her own life. Not surprisingly, Jane Marple disagrees and is convinced it was murder. When a second villager is killed, it appears Miss Marple is correct. She also deduces the real purpose of the letters.
Keywords: agatha-christie, alcoholic-drink, amateur-detective, based-on-novel, bicycle, blackmail, book, brother, cane, churchActors: Charles Jennens (writer), Emma Kirkby (actress), Christopher Hogwood (actor), Christopher Hogwood (actor), David Thomas (actor), Roy Tipping (director), Carolyn Watkinson (actress), Peter Francis (editor), Judith Nelson (actress), John Hearne (costume designer), Paul Elliott (actor),
Genres: Documentary, Music,Actors: Walter Berry (actor), Peter Schreier (actor), Julia Hamari (actress), Siegmund Nimsgern (actor), Siegmund Nimsgern (actor), Siegmund Nimsgern (actor), Siegmund Nimsgern (actor), Horst Laubenthal (actor), Helen Donath (actress), Münchener Bach-Chor (actor), Karl Richter (actor), Münchener Bach-Orchester (actor), Ernst Gerold Schramm (actor),
Genres: Music,Actors: Peter Jones (producer), David Bairstow (director), Rex Tasker (editor), Maureen Forrester (actress), Calvin Sieb (actor), Elizabeth Benson Guy (actress), Glenn Schnittke (actor), James Ranti (actor), Jan Simons (actress),
Genres: Short,(fuer Alice Miller)
Meine Fuesse sind so schwer wie meine Hose
wenn ich wieder mal nicht aufpass
bei so viel Himmel bin ich winzig wie das Toepfchen
wo ich nicht mehr richtig draufpass
wenn ich hinaufschau und die Beiden etwas fragen will
dann werde ich geblendet
die Beiden lachen wenn ich niese ich will wissen
wann der Weg hier endlich endet
Am kiosk kaufen sich die Beiden je ein Eis am Stiel
und ich geh dabei leer aus
mir klebt die Zunge fest am Gaumen auch wenn's nur nach
Pappe schmeckt es sieht nach mehr aus
ich moechte auch so einen Stiel und Mutter sagt Komm her
du darfst bei mir mal beissen
das Ganze ist zu kalt fuer dich -
ich koennt vor Wut an jeder Pusteblume reissen
Wo hat man sowas schon gehoert! Zu kalt fuer dich!
Ich greif entschieden nach dem Stengel
die Mutter zieht ihn weg dann darf sie sich nicht wundern
wenn ich auch entschieden quengel
mal sehn wie Vater diese Sache sieht - da, Junior, sagt er,
darst bei mir mal lecken
das darf doch wohl nicht wahr sein und den bloeden Junior
kann er sich sonstwohin stecken
Und weder Schmetterlinge noch die bloeden Kuehe
koennen mein Interesse wecken
solang die Beiden da nicht endlich damit aufhoer'n
ihr verdammtes Eis zu schlecken
immer wieder bieten sie mir einen Biss an
ich versuch den Stiel zu fassen
immer wieder ziehn si sich mit ihm zurueck
und ich beginne sie zu hassen
Und ich weine immer laenger immer lauter
bis sie schliesslich auch noch lachen
"Stell dich nicht so an! Wer wird denn wegen sowas
gleicht so viel Theater machen!"
Und ich setz mich auf den Boden dreh den
Ruecken ihnen zu zum Steinchenschmeissen
ab und zu dreh ich mich um die bringen's fertig
mir jetzt auch noch auszureissen
Ploetzlich ruft mich Vater zu sich und er gibt mir seinen Stiel
- ich darf ihn haben!
Doch es ist kein Eis mehr dran da kann ich noch so sehr
mit meinem Milchzahn schaben
und ich werf ihn weg und heb ihn wieder auf
auch wenn ich weiss es ist vergeblich
dass mmein Teddybaer zu Hause auf mich wartet
find ich voellig unerheblich
und ich trotte ihnen nach nur keine Klagen
denn sie soll'n mich wieder loeben
gruene Wiese blauer Himmerl und ein
grosser Vogel schreit da ganz weit oben
Joshi Kappl: Bassgitarre
Hendrik Schaper: Synthesizer, Glockenspiel
Mick Franke: Akustische Gitarren
HRK: Gesang, Akustische Gitarre